Movie reviewBy Courtney L. Woods

**THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS**

All right, all right. It’s not technically a film until December 2002. I can, however, give you more good reasons to spend eight bucks to see Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring again, just to experience the beauty of the four-minute trailer tacked on the end for the second installment, The Two Towers, than I could for you to see the middle-of-the-road and often times mediocre Death to Smoochy. As of March 29, director Peter Jackson added a sneak peak of the highly anticipated film, which continues the journey to destroy the One Ring. He’s a bloody genius. This man should teach every other filmmaker and studio how to cut a perfect trailer.

As Fellowship of the Ring ends with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) climbing over the rocks to Mordor, instead of the credits popping up, music soars in an uplift as the screen reads “This Christmas The Journey Continues…In The Two Towers.” Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) travel over sunset-drenched rough terrain and eventually find themselves in a wood with weapons drawn, where they encounter an old friend. Gandalf the Wizard (gasp!–Ian McKellen) returns in a new form as Gandalf the White; if the trailer alone conveys any emotion whatsoever, the actual scene in the completed film should be breathtaking.

With Peter Jackson’s attempt to beef up the character of Arwen (Liv Tyler) she once again makes many appearances in the trailer; the most curious being the image of her lying in a red and black dress with leaves swirling around her. Her screen time in this film should be sparse; however, we are talking about a character who, in Tolkien’s original text, didn’t even really speak until the third book and its accompanying appendices. Everyone’s favorite creature returns as well; a full shot of Gollum climbing down a tree to a slumbering Sam and Frodo ends the trailer with him hissing about the thieves that stole his “precious.”

The trailer also features the introduction of many wonderful characters–but none more exciting than Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the White Lady of Rohan, who (in the critic’s estimation) is the coolest female character in the story (sorry, Arwen). In the trailer, she meets blades with Aragorn and stands at Edoras in a flowing white gown in a purely cinematic moment. Other characters include Theoden (Bernard Hill), Eomer (Karl Urban), Faramir of Gondor (David Wenham), and Treebeard; the enchanting creature created by Tolkien called and Ent.

Don’t worry, there is enough action to go around. With the plot closing in on the War of the Ring and Aragorn seeking the throne of Gondor, there is much swashbuckling and swordplay. No battle is more anticipated than that of Helm’s Deep, a scene that reportedly took Peter Jackson, cast and crew over a month to shoot. Helm’s Deep is lined with elven archers on the roof, an army of men, Legolas (not only using his famous bow and arrows but also his twin blades–very impressive) and Aragorn all ready for battle being pounded by rain, facing thousands of Uruk-Hai all chanting and shrieking their war cries.

Sure, you could download the trailer from numerous websites, but none will have the quality or the scope of what you see on the actual theater screen. It is only four minutes, but it is a quality four minute trailer that leaves you wanting more–the entire three-hour full-length onslaught. Death to Smoochy isn’t even worth thinking about after this; but I guess it’s just the bookworm/geek in me. I suppose only those like me will truly ever understand how I love and hate Peter Jackson at this moment. I love him for the added thrill of expectancy and hate him for the grueling eight month wait that is ahead of me! I hope Christmas comes soon!

CARDINAL GRADE: A+

(Critics’s note: the best place for Lord of the Rings movie news and rumors is www.theonering.net. There you can locate different mirror sites to download the trailer.)